SETTING THE SCENE
The UMSL men's basketball team opens a four-game roadswing over the next two weeks at Rockhurst on Thursday night. The Tritons then close out their trip west with a Saturday contest at William Jewell. UMSL sits in a tie for second place in the West Division standings with Truman State, one game behind Drury and one game ahead of Maryville. The Tritons are 14-5 overall, but 3-3 on the road this season.

LAST TIME OUT
UMSL is coming off an 80-76 overtime loss to West Division leader Drury last Saturday. The Tritons led by 22 points with 16 minutes to play, but saw the Panthers rally back for the win. After shooting 53.8 percent in the first half, UMSL connected at just a 27.9 percent clip in the second half and also committed 15 turnovers in the final stanza, which led to 18 Drury points. Senior Tylor Wimbish scored a team-best 18 points, while senior Aareon Smith followed with 15 points.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Aareon Smith averages team-bests of 15.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, including 16.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in GLVC play and is one of two players to average a double-double in league contests. Senior Tylor Wimbish follows with 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while junior Derek Williams leads the squad with 2.9 assists per game. Junior Brandon Marquardt owns team-highs of 17 steals and 33 three-pointers made, while junior Kevin Swanson is shooting 54.9 percent from the field and has a team-best 11 blocks.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Aareon Smith owns 11 double-doubles on the season - which included a streak of five straight earlier this season. He leads the GLVC in that category and ranks sixth in NCAA DII.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Senior Aareon Smith is averaging 8.3 trips to the free throw line per game, where he is 125-of-157 (.796). He ranks ninth in NCAA DII in free throws made and free throws attempted. Smith ranks seventh in program history with 298 career made free throws and 398 free throws attempted. His career average at the charity stripe of 74.9 ranks 10th all-time.

FIELD GOAL ACCURACY
Senior Tylor Wimbish is shooting 57.4 percent from the field in his two-year career, which ties the fourth-best average in program history.

ASSIST-TURNOVER
UMSL is third in the GLVC and ranks 17yh in NCAA DII in assist to turnover ratio at 1.44. The Tritons are averaging just 11.0 turnovers per game, which ranks 16th in DII, and average 15.8 assists per game.

FROM THREE-POINT RANGE
- The Tritons have netted 174 three-pointers, an average of 9.2 per game, which is third in the GLVC and 28th in NCAA DII.
- UMSL is shooting a league-best 41.5 percent from long range, including 43.9 percent in GLVC-only games.
- UMSL has netted double-figure three-pointers eight different times this season, which ties the 2011-12 team for the third most in a season.
- Eight different players have made at least 10 three-pointers this season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Rockhurst is 5-12 overall, including 1-8 in the GLVC and has lost its last two outings. Dominique Washington averages a team-best 11.2 points and adds 5.1 rebounds per game, while Russell Burns follows with 10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. The Hawks average 66.2 points, while allowing 81.9 points per game in GLVC contests.

William Jewell enters a Thursday home contest against Maryville with a 7-10 record, including a 3-6 GLVC mark, but have lost three straight. Four different players average double figures, including D'Vante Mosby, who averages 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The Cardinals rank 15th in the league with 64.4 points per game on offense and are 15th in field goal percentage at .397.

SERIES HISTORIES
UMSL is 18-20 all-time against Rockhurst, but has won three of the last four meetings, including a 74-56 decision in St. Louis last season.

The Tritons are 10-5 against William Jewell and defeated the Cardinals, 68-64, last year in St. Louis to snap a two-game losing streak to them.

LOOKING AHEAD
UMSL wraps up a four-game roadtrip next weekend in Indiana. The Tritons are at No. 1 ranked Indianapolis next Thursday and at Saint Joseph's next Saturday. UMSL will then close out its regular season with four of five games at home.